A) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a data carrier having encapsulated scents and to a method for producing such a data carrier.
B) Related Technology
Data carriers having encapsulated scents are known which are used in particular for advertising purposes. In known data carriers the carrier material used is paper which is printed with inks containing scents enclosed in microcapsules. The inks used generally contain not only the microcapsules but also dyes or pigments, binders and solvents.
In the production of known data carriers the ink, after being printed on the paper base, dries by absorption in the data carrier and evaporation of the solvent. The dyes or pigments are largely fixed on the paper surface with the help of the binder. Evaporation of the solvent and absorption of the binder reduce the volume of applied ink so much that the microcapsules admixed to the ink are in any case accessible on the paper surface. If one rubs the surface of a data carrier thus printed, some of the microcapsules accessible on the paper surface are destroyed, thereby releasing the scents contained therein.
The known method for applying encapsulated scents provides satisfactory results but was restricted up to now to absorptive surfaces, i.e. surfaces on which an applied ink dries quickly by absorption. It was evidently assumed up to now that this method cannot be used if the microcapsules are applied to an unabsorptive base since the microcapsules are then too greatly embedded in the binder or enveloped thereby and fail to release the scent even after being destroyed. The invention is based on the problem of extending the range of application of microencapsulated scents in data carriers.